Where you can grow your own health

Quinoa Pilaf This is my new favorite way to prepare quinoa. I’ll create a more “official” recipe for my cookbook (with a more professional photo). But for now, I’m sharing this recipe without specific measurements. Print Quinoa Pilaf Rate this…

Reproduced with kind permission from the Vegan Society. Very low B12 intakes can cause anaemia and nervous system damage The only reliable vegan sources of B12 are foods fortified with B12 (including some plant milks, some soy products and some…

HISTORY OF FOUR THIEVES VINEGAR When researching the history of Four Thieves Vinegar I realized there are many more versions of this folklore than I expected. The reason there are so many versions is because the story itself dates back…

Now that we are heading into cold and flu season, I thought it would be appropriate to repost this article that I wrote 2 years ago for Mother Earth News about the roots, recipe, and controversy surrounding Fire Cider, a…

The holiday season is officially here! Each of us experiences this season through our own lens of memories, beliefs, and circumstances. For many people the holidays are very enjoyable albeit hectic, but for others it can be a time of loneliness,…

CINNAMON – SWEET ‘N SPICY GOOD! It is well established that in addition to being sweet ‘n spicy, cinnamon is also super healthy for us. It’s been found to reduce blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. It is beneficial…

Planning your Thanksgiving menu can be fun, but challenging. Then throw in a guest or two with dietary restrictions, and the task becomes even more daunting. If you don’t really know how to deal with different types of diets, you may…

Antipasto has been part of our family’s holiday tradition for decades. When I started eating a plant-based diet in 2012, I continued this tradition but learned to create a plant lovers version. I make my own pickled beets and pickled…

This was the first year that Jamie planted thyme. It grew very well and being a perennial should continue to come back year after year. I harvested some all season and enjoyed adding it to various dishes. Now Autumn is…

Rest assured that all of the “Simply Delicious” recipes contained in this blog are “Medical Medium friendly”, meaning they only contain ingredients suggested by Anthony William. How did I come to understand his version of a plant-based diet? Before Anthony…

Having trouble deciding if you want to cook white potatoes or sweet potatoes? As my father-in-law used to say, “no decisions”. This recipe packs a one potato, two potato punch of flavor and nutrients. Print One Potato, Two Potato Skillet…

If you’re like me, you only eat fresh tomatoes when they’re in-season, vine ripened, and just picked. Compare the bright flavor of summer tomatoes to the anemic taste of off-season, hothouse tomatoes and there’s no contest! Want to preserve this…

Raspberries, like all berries, are packed with nutrients.* But, did you know they are super easy to grow? A few years after we built our home, Jamie planted an everbearing variety called Heritage. Everbearing means they produce berries twice in…

When I was walking the gardens recently, I realized we have 6 wild mullein plants growing behind the wild stinging nettles and three others growing in the gardens 🙂 I’m so grateful that Jamie knew what they were, and didn’t…

Spring is garlic scape season! Scapes are long, leafless flower stalks that taste like garlic; they’re tender and perfect for making pesto. We have at least 400 garlic plants growing, which means we have over 400 garlic scapes! So tonight…

Last fall some of the leeks and onions weren’t quite large enough to pick. So Jamie covered them with leaves and let them “overwinter”. When you successfully overwinter, the plants go dormant but survive the cold weather and then start…

The patch of nettles growing wild in our yard came back strong this spring after weeks of rain! I harvested them recently and expect to get at least two more harvests. I have a removable line hung in our spare…

My first miracle happened when I was 12-years-old while bike riding with my childhood friend, Patty Metzger, on the East Side of Bridgeport near my family’s home. Against my better judgement I was wearing my pricey, brand new, authentic camel hair pants. We hadn’t…

Our bodies and all things are imbued with life energy. This life force has been given various names throughout time, for instance Qi or Chi in China, Ki in Japan, Prana in India and Tibet, Waken by the Lakotas, Orenda…

Late last summer Rosie, a fellow herbalist and beloved family member, pointed out that we have a fairly large patch of stinging nettles growing in our yard! The patch is in an area where Jamie sometimes grazes his annual flock of new chicks. When…

We still have fantastic garlic scapes in our refrigerator, which we harvested in June! We also have a large patch of arugula in one of our gardens which self seeded and is growing well despite the fact it’s December in…

Still deciding which sides will accompany your holiday meal? Here’s an easy side dish that can even be made the night before. It’s a favorite family recipe that is bright, light, and delicious! Try not to eat it all before the…

This has been a banner year for apples and we have been preserving them every which way. One of my favorite methods is dehydration. It’s an easy process, plus the dried apples make a convenient, nutrient and fiber rich snack which is shelf stable for years.…

GROWING FOUR SEASONS IN ZONE 5 – Jamie built our 60′ x 28′ greenhouse in 2006 after being inspired by Eliot Coleman’s book, “Four-Season Harvest“. We do not heat the greenhouse, even though we’re in Planting Zone 5, but by using…

Today was garlic planting day, one of my favorite days of the year; I love homegrown garlic THAT much!! It is juicer with more flavor, and is sweeter with less bite. Besides adding wonderful flavor to dishes, garlic has many health…

In the mid ’80s Jamie’s cousin, Bob, built his home in a lovely rural neighborhood in Morris. I was working for the phone company at the time as a Yellow Pages sales rep. I travelled to different parts of the…

One afternoon, during the summer of 2009, I was driving home from running errands when I suddenly got the urge to go a different route. This different route was surely out of my way. I had my daughter with me and…

When the gardens are still producing, as they are now, I often don’t pre-plan dinner. I simply stroll through the rows and pick the veggies that appeal to me, and then let the meal unfold. If you don’t have a garden…

Jamie walked into the kitchen today bearing gifts of concord grape clusters and I nearly fell down! You see, he planted a small area of of these purple beauties over 20 years ago but we’ve never harvested more than a few…

Have you ever seen anyone eat a blazing hot pepper by mistake and witness the result? I have! Jamie casually popped a fiery chili into his mouth approximately 35 years ago, at the horror of the hostess who couldn’t stop him in time,…

This is the very first year that ALL of our apple trees are producing abundantly. What a blessing (and a curse)! So far Jamie has made three pies (he’s a good pie maker and even makes his own crust). I’ve…